Starcrossed in the Rain
by Onsta
Summary: Oneshot. I could never keep a lie to you, Ichigo. I could also never consider myself as brave, but there's a first time for everything, right?


AN: My first fic here! :) R&R please!  
Oh, and if you want to see some pictures of Saruzawa and Ichigo, go to my profile and visit my DA! :)

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"It's raining again." Saruzawa noted dully. And it was indeed raining. The soft pitter-patter of the raindrops sounded on the roof above them, setting a peaceful, calm atmosphere in Ichigo's room.

"Yeah.." Ichigo lounged on his bed, observing the placid girl at his desk. "... Ash?"

She didn't bother correcting him. "Yes?"

"Is there something bothering you?"

"Only the usual." Saruzawa glanced over her shoulder at the orange-haired boy she loved. Only... there was doubt. "People. Battles. The squad..." She was the captain of the cheerleading team at school. The rowdy group of boys she had led to several victories in city competitions was the place where she had felt best. The Ouendan.

"I thought I told you not to think about that stuff." The substitute shinigami sat up, propping his elbows behind him. She could feel his eyes on her. "Just ignore them..."

"It's hard to, Ichigo! It's hard to lead Ryo, Mitsuo, and Yoshiaki when they don't listen... it's hard to kill another Hollow... it's hard to reach into my unconscious state of mind and rehear those awful words..." The foreign-exchange student bit her lip, then gasped quietly as she finished. She shouldn't have told him...

"Hollow?" His eyes widened. "Ash, are you--"

"I have to go!" She quickly rose, keeping her back to him. "I have to finish my homework. Later days!" She made a break for it, but only made it halfway to the door before he had flash-stepped behind her, grabbing her wrist tightly.

"Ash.." Ichigo's voice was dangerously low. "When did you become a shinigami? No lies."

A shiver went down her spine. "N-not long ago, Ichigo..."

"How?" He questioned, his voice still giving her chills.

"I-it's a long story--" His grip only got tighter, forcing her to go on. "... Not long after I came to Japan, Karakura.. I saw this man... on my way home from an exchange students meeting. He told me something about reiatsu, and how mine was extremely high... and then he told me.." She lowered her eyes. "That back in his division, the shinigami had this slang, a joke, a myth... of something called the 'Gaijin Force'. They teased the others who looked like foreigners with it--supposedly, there's a type of... foreigner with a reiatsu that can skyrocket, just by the extreme difference of setting. Then those who visited the human world would joke, 'That's why everyone's so afraid of them. The sheer intimidation is what it is on the outside, and also the prejudice... but it's spiritual aswell!!' And then they would laugh.."

She had expected Ichigo to interrupt and say how stupid it was, but he merely kept quiet.

She went on. "He told me I had that... and that my reiatsu was so powerful, it warded off the Hollows instead of bringing them to me. He had never seen anything like it before... so he invited me to come with him, to become a full shinigami... and I did. I did everything he told me to do... The Seireitei was so amazing, but there was the prejudice... I eventually made it through. Some people cut me breaks. I worked hard, even dismissing my school work to finish. They called me 'The Gaijin-Rei...' I only made a few true friends, and sometimes I'm not even sure they're /that/." A deep sigh. "This... this is why Hollows haven't been too common around Karakura since I came. If there were, I disposed of them quickly... I didn't want to tell you, because I didn't want you to worry. I wish I could crack some kind of joke about this... Make some kind of funny pun.." Saruzawa's face was downcast. "But I can't. It's so ridiculous and absurd... and that I would be one of them? What good have I ever done? I'm no underdog, but I'm no breadwinner, either. I'm not even /average/, Ichigo..." Shaking. "And now what? What happens when I leave? There is no Seireitei in America... will all of my hard work die?"

Ichigo's grip lessened and he pulled her to him, holding her tightly as she sobbed into his chest. He glanced down at her and frowned; he had never seen her break down like this. Saruzawa was always so carefree and strong, and most of all, happy... she made jokes about everything, and she came from a high-up family. It was the pressure, he concluded. The pressure of everything the world threw at her. It piled on top of her shoulders in a giant mountain before she finally collapsed.

"I'm here..." He stroked her hair tenderly, kissing her forehead lightly. "I'm here."

They would stay like that for some time before she finally gained her composure. A long talk followed, and bonds were strengthened. The world and the skies tried to tear one apart, only for her to be rebuilt by the other. The two that never belonged finally did.


End file.
